


Taking Care

by mnemosyne23



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Inflation, Mating, Mating Cycles/In Heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 00:55:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17839337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mnemosyne23/pseuds/mnemosyne23
Summary: It's dragonslayer mating season, and Laxus is not doing well. Can Mirajane get him through it?





	Taking Care

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, another mating season story! I think all Fairy Tail fans are required to write at least one. Pretty sure it's fandom law.
> 
> Please note, this story brushes lightly along the edges of non-con. It never progresses to actual non-con -- everything is consensual -- but please keep that in mind if you're sensitive to that material.

The pain was ice in his veins. It burned, cold and lethal, leeching him dry and leaving him painfully numb. He felt as though every inch of his body was a limb that had fallen asleep and was seething back to life. Over and over and over.

 

Lightning coated his body in a fine cocoon of crackling current. He couldn’t control it, and had given up even trying. It made the pain worse when he tried to shut off his magic; firecrackers beneath his skin that wanted to erupt. 

 

Scents assaulted his sensitive nose, setting his brain on fire and blinding his other senses. Sight had been the first to go, and now he viewed the world through a pinprick. Shapes were shadowy, outlined in thick black borders, and everything was so damn _dark_. All sound was drowned out by the constant, maddening hum of electricity and his heartbeat, the overstressed organ hammering in his chest so viciously he thought it would beat its way out past his ribs. Taste was nonexistent, his mouth coated in ozone. The last water he’d choked down had been two days ago, and food closer to a week. Now, water boiled on his tongue and food couldn’t make it past his gag reflex. 

 

The hollow in his belly ached, but it was an ache he almost welcomed because it was familiar. Nothing else about this nightmare was familiar. This wasn’t like the times before. He’d made it through those easy enough, though it had been getting harder the last few years. There was always some pain; always some rage. But never anything like this.

 

A spasm of fresh agony racked through his core, and Laxus bowed up from the bed with a roar. Lightning feelers lashed out from his body, crackling through the room, seeking a place to ground. Electricity had never _hurt_ before, but now it seared his nerve endings, uncontrollable and feral; a living thing that was fighting to survive, with or without the wretched confines of his skin. The acrid smell of burned flesh and charred hair invaded his nose. His stomach churned and he choked on vomit, coughing in desperation to clear his airways, feeling the vile contents of his empty stomach sizzle on his lips before effervescing into a putrid haze. 

 

He wanted to sleep, but no sleep would come. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept, and he didn’t think he’d sleep again before this was over.

 

Over. He wanted this to be over. And if he couldn’t sleep he wanted to die. 

 

That was some small comfort at least. Sleep was out of the question, but death was a certainty. Maybe soon. _Maybe maybe…_

 

Oh gods. He could feel another outburst coming. He’d barely caught his breath from the last one, he didn’t think he could-

 

Blinding anguish. An explosion of blue-white lightning that pulverized his few remaining windows, showering him with powdered glass. It grated on his skin like sandpaper, abrading his staring eyes. That didn’t matter. He couldn’t see anyway.

 

##########

 

“You wanted to see me, Master?”

 

Makarov was standing by the window in his office, staring out across the cityscape of Magnolia. It was a sunny day, and the summer warmth was alleviated by a pleasant, steady breeze from the north that made puffy cumulus clouds scud across the blue sky. It was idyllic; perfection.

 

His fist clenched in frustration, then released as he turned to face his guest. 

 

“Thank you for coming, Mirajane,” he said. “Please sit.”

 

The platinum-haired Takeover Mage gave the elderly guildmaster a concerned look as she sank into a seat on the opposite side of his desk. “Is everything okay, Master?” she asked. “You’ve been so distant this past week. I’m sure you’re not sleeping well. What’s going on?”

 

Makarov hitched himself up onto his desk so he could sit directly in front of her, his short legs dangling. “Mira, what do you know about dragonslayers?” he asked, ignoring her questions.

 

The young woman blinked. “I… don’t know exactly. More than some people, less than others. Why do you ask, Master?” Her eyes widened. “Did Natsu do something? Is he in trouble? Because I’m sure he didn’t mean to! We can figure something-“

 

“Natsu’s not in trouble, Mira. Well, not that I’m aware of. I’m sure he _should be_ , but that’s not relevant right now.” He sighed, suddenly feeling very, very old. “I should be more clear. What do you know about dragonslayer mating cycles?”

 

Mirajane blushed, a pretty pink flush across her cheeks. “Nothing, Master. I’m sorry” Her blush deepened.

 

He nodded. “I didn’t expect you to.” 

 

“Why do you ask, Master?”

 

Makarov clasped his hands in his lap, staring at the toes of his shoes. “It’s mating season,” he said softly.

 

Mirajane nodded, not quite sure what she was supposed to do with that information. “Oh,” she finally said.

 

“I’m sure you’ve noticed our resident slayers being… more demonstrative with their affections than usual,” Makarov continued. That was an understatement, to be honest. Gajeel refused to let Levy out of his sight, and wasn’t inclined to let her out of his arm’s reach if he could get away with it. Wendy was spending altogether unseemly amounts of time with Mest, watching the older mage with eyes the size of saucers. And Natsu… Well Natsu was virtually living in Lucy’s clothes. He hung on her like a sweater, and while his demeanor was still outgoing and friendly, there were times his eyes turned to possessive ice chips when someone else – particularly another man – got too close.

 

Mirajane giggled. “I’d noticed, yes.” This was her wheelhouse: gossip and relationships and matchmaking. “It’s rather romantic, really.”

 

Makarov nodded. “Yes, in a way. Of course, none of them are old enough to experience a true heat yet. For dragons, sexual maturity doesn’t arrive til age 25. Everything before that is just… practice.”

 

Mirajane nodded, intrigued. “So this is just the warmup?”

 

“More or less.”

 

“That’s very interesting, Master, but I don’t really understand what you want me to do. Should I tell the others that they need to show more restraint?”

 

Makarov shook his head. “No, no. They’re fine.” His hands clenched and unclenched; clenched and unclenched. “The problem is Laxus.”

 

With a sigh, the elderly master continued. “Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel – they’re all first generation dragonslayers. They were reared by dragons, nurtured by dragons, inherited their abilities through dragons, and were provided with anti-dragon antibodies to prevent them from succumbing to dragon sickness. When they reach sexual maturity and go through their first heat, it’s not going to be easy, but they’ll manage. They’re bred to manage. It’s literally in their blood.”

 

Mirajane nodded. “But… not Laxus?”

 

Exhaustion pulled at Makarov’s eyes, demanding sleep. He ignored it. “Laxus is a second generation dragonslayer. His abilities are just as powerful, but the dragon magic that helps Natsu and the others navigate these milestones is missing. Sting and Rogue are third generation, but they nonetheless had the experience of learning and absorbing their dragon abilities through the nurturing of actual dragons. Laxus has had none of that, and his body…” Makarov passed a weary hand over his eyes. “He’s a stubborn boy. Hopelessly stubborn. I’ve told him for years that he couldn’t get through this alone; that he was going to need to embrace the full dragon if he was going to make it through this unscathed. He wouldn’t listen to me. When has Laxus _ever_ listened to his crotchety old grandfather, eh? And now…”

 

One of Mira’s pale hands came to rest on Makarov’s knee. He looked up and met the young mage’s blue eyes. “Master, what’s wrong with Laxus?” she asked, her voice heavy with concern. It hadn't escaped the barmaid’s attention that the brawny dragonslayer hadn’t been seen at the guild for the last couple weeks. Confronted with evidence that he wasn’t gone on a mission, but was in some kind of physical danger, had obviously been a shock to her system.

 

Tears streaked down the old man’s cheeks, unnoticed. “He’s dying, Mira. My grandson is dying, and I can’t do a damn thing to help.”

 

Tears flooded Mirajane’s eyes and she instantly leapt up to wrap the elderly master in a tight hug. “I’m sure that’s not true,” she whispered, her voice tight with emotion. “I’m sure we can find something…”

 

“He can’t cope, Mira. His body’s not meant for this. He’s not a _dragon_. He’s a boy who was tossed into a dragon’s sandbox, and now he’s paying the price as a man.” 

 

“Don’t talk like that. I don’t believe it’s true. Laxus is the strongest man I know. He can get through anything. We just have to believe in him.”

 

Makarov forced her away, staring up into her beautiful, tear-stained face. Was there ever a more compassionate soul than Mirajane Strauss? Perhaps it was a form of self-defense, or rather, self-absolution; a way to remind herself and the world that she was a human, not a demon. 

 

“I can’t help him, Mira,” he said, voice hoarse. “But you can.”

 

Mira’s eyes widened. “Me? How?”

 

“I can’t tell you. I have to show you first.”

 

##########

 

It was little more than a shack, hidden in the woods, perched on the edge of the river. The windows were shattered, leaving empty voids that sucked away all sunlight. 

 

"He built it years ago," Makarov explained. "Back when he first started really feeling the urges. No one ever comes back here, so it's safe enough."

 

A bellow suddenly erupted from the bowels of the ramshackle cabin, rattling the window casements. Blue-white lightning crackled through the vacant windows like the tentacles of a thrashing octopus. They whipped along the walls of the house, leaving scorched lines in their wake, before retreating back into the cabin.

 

Mira ignored all of it, her eyes focused in horror on the figure strapped spread-eagle to a bed inside the cabin, just visible through the ruined windows.

 

Laxus was glowing, his body surrounded by a nimbus of lightning: gold and blue and white and purple. His eyes were just visible through the electric sheath: wide and staring, unseeing. Blood streaked his cheeks like tears. He had a week’s worth of beard growth, and his hair was shaggy and unkempt. He was completely naked but Mirajane didn’t care about the lack of modesty; she’d been mother to her little brother for years. What bothered her was the way his stomach flexed as he tried desperately to suck in lungfuls of air, and how every single muscle in his masculine frame was corded with exquisite agony. He was bowed up, away from the mattress, so that his only points of contact were the back of his head, shoulders, and heels. Even as she watched he arched painfully away from the bed, another mind-shattering howl erupting from his lips as an explosion of blue-white lightning erupted from his body, jellyfish tentacles of electricity whipcording around the shack’s only room, darting out through the windows, seeking _something_. 

 

“Master...,” she whispered, tears spilling past her lashes.

 

“He was mostly managing until a week ago,” Makarov murmured. He wasn’t looking through the window. He already knew what he’d see. “I finally had to tie him down. He was going to hurt himself if I didn’t.”

 

Mira turned horrified eyes in her guildmaster’s direction. “You… you did this to him?”

 

“No, Mira,” Makarov said, his eyes betraying his weariness. “The dragon’s doing this to him. It’s a _dragon_.” 

 

He pointed at the empty windows and the tortured young man beyond them. “That’s a dragonslayer in full heat, with no filters and no shields,” he said, and this time his voice was calm. “It could just as easily be Natsu, or Gajeel, or even little Wendy; but it won’t be. They have what they need to keep the dragon at bay. Laxus doesn’t.”

 

Mira tore her eyes away from Makarov to focus once more on her suffering friend. “I don’t understand… what can I do?”

 

Makarov turned to her and took her hands, forcing her attention back to him. “He’s going to die, Mira,” the old man said softly. “Unless he finds a mate, he’s going to die.”

 

Mirajane stared at him, realization slowly crystallizing in her traumatized mind. “A… mate…?”

 

Makarov nodded, his expression serious. “The mating season is when bloodlines are renewed, strengthened, expanded. The compulsion to mate is irresistible. Now take that irresistible compulsion, compress it from the size of a dragon to the size of a man, and then take away any of the protection a first generation dragonslayer would enjoy.”

 

Another howl of pain. Another torrent of seeking, sizzling electrical tentacles.

 

Mira squeezed Makarov’s hands, her knuckles white. “You want…me? To…”

 

“I can’t make you do anything, Mira,” Makarov murmured. “I _won’t_ make you do anything. Laxus would never forgive me, and I’d never forgive myself. But… I thought…” He squeezed her hands in return. 

 

“Laxus has always cared for you, Mirajane,” the old man continued. “During his warmup heats, your magazines... they were his lifeblood. They got him through.” Mira knew she should be embarrassed but she found she didn’t have the energy to care. “But photos and glossy centerfolds aren’t enough this time. This is the REAL THING. “

 

Mira turned her attention back to the cabin, though she didn’t release the guildmaster’s hands. “What will happen to him? If he doesn’t find a mate?” Her voice sounded strange and foreign to her ears.

 

“His heart will explode.” He said it so matter-of-factly Mirajane almost missed it. 

 

“His heart…”

 

“Too many endorphins. Too much adrenaline. His body can’t handle it. His magic's already betraying him.”

 

Mirajane swallowed. It felt like her throat was coated with glass. 

 

“Mira.” Makarov drew her attention back to him for a moment, and his expression had softened slightly. “You don’t have to do it. You have no obligation. I only asked because I’m a selfish old man who loves his grandson. But I’m also Fairy Tail’s guildmaster, and I won’t send my kids anywhere they don’t want to be. I leave the decision entirely to you. Whatever choice you make, I won’t stop you.” He was quiet for a moment, then added, “And I won’t blame you.”

 

Her head was spinning. There was too much to process, too much to _think_. The forest was spinning around her, the sound of the river drowned out by the hum of the electricity coming from the bound man shackled to the bed in the cabin behind her. 

 

Laxus. Laxus was dying. Laxus, who had always been indestructible. Laxus, who had terrified her as a child, then infuriated her as a teen, and finally just left her frustrated and confused as an adult. Laxus, who was always there, except for the years when he wasn’t, and now he wouldn’t be ever again. 

 

Her fingernails dug into her palms, the spark of pain clearing her head. 

 

“Please leave, Master,” she murmured.

 

Makarov tilted his head. “Mira?”

 

She turned her eyes to him. Her tears were gone. “You don’t need to be here for this. I’ll find you when it’s done.”

 

The elderly guildmaster didn’t ask her what she meant; if she was going to tell him she’d given Laxus what he needed, or if she was offering to tell him when his grandson finally succumbed. Instead he nodded, turned, and trudged slowly away into the forest. There was nothing else he could do.

 

Mira waited until he’d disappeared before turning in the opposite direction, resting her hand on the doorknob of the ramshackle cabin, and pushing the door open.

 

##########

 

Strawberries.

 

Strawberries… and cream.

 

The scents assaulted Laxus’s nose, fresh and clean and wholesome, and he sucked in eager breaths as he tried to clear the nauseating scent of vomit and bile and sweat from his abused sinuses.

 

Strawberries. Fresh, sweet summer strawberries. Cold cream from the jug. And underneath it all, a smoldering, fragrant musk…

 

 _Woman_.

 

He groaned, every muscle twitching. His hands twisted in their restraints, desperate to touch, to feel the soft silk of female skin. Old blood caked his wrists, fresh blood washing over it in slimy rivulets as he fought to get free.

 

“Laxus.”

 

He startled. The voice was so clear, cutting through the incessant hum of his magic and the brutal pounding of his heart. For a moment it split the noise so perfectly that everything else faded to silence, before slowly washing back like an ocean tide licking the beach.

 

“Laxus, it’s me. Mirajane. Do you hear me, Laxus?”

 

Mira. Smooth skin, soft lips, the divot of her hips and the full swell of her breasts. Blue, blue eyes, so fresh and cool. Spider silk hair that whispered around her shoulders like secrets. So many secrets.

 

“M…ira?” he choked. It was agony. His throat was coated with glass dust, his lips cracked, his tongue a slab of cotton wool. 

 

Then she was there, a burning white flame against the black shadows. Her form was indistinct, but if he focused he could make out the gentle curve of her cheek. She settled on the edge of the mattress beside him, and the welcome sight of her beautiful face swam into blurry focus against the blinding white light that surrounded her like a halo. 

 

“Oh, Laxus,” she murmured, and he heard the tears in her voice. “Why didn’t you say something?”

 

He wanted to tell her not to cry; that he wasn’t interested in her tears. But his voice wasn’t working, and before he could think of some other way to communicate, he felt another burst of electrical discharge prepare to explode. There was no way to warn her, and he arched away from the bed with a strangled roar as the feelers erupted from his body, enveloping the slender Takeover Mage in a cocoon of lightning.

 

##########

 

There was no pain.

 

Mirajane had sparred with Laxus before, so she knew the sting of his lightning magic. This was… different. It wasn’t an attack. The electricity wrapped around her like a blanket, raising the hair on her arms and the back of her neck and setting the hair on her head whipping around in a silken halo. 

 

She raised her hand, watching in amazement as the vibrant electrical current swirled around her fingers. Was this what it felt like to be Laxus? To hold something so destructive in the palm of your hand?

 

The electrical cocoon faded as quickly as it had enveloped her, and the man beside her moaned with relief. Mira turned her attention back to him, brow furrowed with worry. Laxus looked awful. His lips were cracked, his beard streaked with blood and vomit. Black stripes of burned flesh decorated his body, and she realized that they were electrical burns. His own lightning had turned against him. 

 

Mirajane rested her hand on his chest. The electricity that sheathed his body parted and reformed around her wrist; it felt a bit like dipping her hand into a pool of warm water. 

 

Laxus jumped when she touched him, gasping softly. 

 

“I’m sorry!” she whispered, pulling her hand quickly away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

 

He stared at her, though Mira was pretty sure he couldn’t really _see_ her. He hadn’t blinked once since she’d arrived – only when the pain forced his eyes closed – and his eyes looked clouded and dry, like two scratched marbles that had seen too many impacts in the marble bag.

 

“May I… touch you?” she asked softly. 

 

He didn’t respond, but she figured if he was really against it he’d have found some way to make himself understood. Anyway, if she was going to find a way to help him she _had to_ touch him, so the point was moot.

 

“I’ll be very gentle,” Mira promised, reaching for him slowly, as though she was talking to a skittish dog. “If I hurt you, let me know, okay? I don’t want to hurt you, Laxus.”

 

Her hand delved through the electrical cocoon again and came to rest on his cheek. His skin was paper dry, and she wondered how long it had been since he’d last had a drink of water. Judging by his lips, it must have been a while.

 

“Would you like something to drink, Laxus?” she asked softly. His eyes widened and he tried to raise his head. “No no, shhh… Don’t move. I’ll get you some water, okay? Lay still.”

 

The cabin was surprisingly well stocked, with a variety of tinned and canned non-perishables, as well as a water pump that pulled fresh water from the nearby river and put it through magical purification. Mira drew a large, cold glass from the pump and carried it back to the bed, feeling the condensation forming under her fingertips.

 

“Here you go,” she soothed, sliding one hand under his head and using the other to bring the glass to his lips. 

 

Laxus struggled to raise his head until she could tip the contents of the glass into his bone dry mouth.

 

As it had done the last two days, the water hit the electrical barrier that encased the dragonslayer’s body and boiled away into steam.

 

The sound Laxus made was heartbreaking: frustration and desperation and _pain_. He lunged for the water again, spilling a quantity from the glass over his face and chest. As before, it evaporated instantly. Laxus groaned and collapsed back to the bed, shaking his head.

 

Mira frowned in concern. “No, don’t do that. Don’t give up like that. You need water, Laxus. There has to be a way. If I can touch you then there has to be a way-“

 

She paused. She could touch him. This barrier that surrounded him, that kept something as basic as water from coming near his skin – she could get past it. There was no pain, not any discomfort at all. It was almost soothing, the way the current swirled around her skin, like the comforting warmth of an _onsen_. 

 

But this wasn’t about her. This was about Laxus. And she knew she could help him.

 

Dipping two fingers into the glass of water, Mira gently brought them to his lips, brushing the moisture over the dry, cracked skin.

 

Laxus gasped, stiffening in shock.

 

“I can do this for you,” Mira soothed, feeling a delightful thrill of victory. “You’re going to be okay, Laxus, I promise.”

 

She repeated the action a few more times, dipping her fingers and dabbing them on his lips. By the third time he was catching her fingers in his mouth, desperately sucking the moisture from her digits . It might have been sexual in any other situation, but Mira ignored the thought as she dutifully gave him what he so desperately needed. 

 

Eventually Laxus stopped frantically sucking the water from her fingers and settled for letting her rest her fingers in his mouth, allowing droplets of water to roll over his parched tongue. The worst of his thirst had been slaked, but Mirajane knew it wasn’t enough. She had to find some other way to get more water into him; more than just a few drops at a time.

 

“I’m going to get some more water, okay?” she murmured. “I’ll be right back. You don’t have to worry. I won’t be gone long.”

 

He moaned as she withdrew her fingers from his mouth, and his head tilted to hold onto them as long as possible. 

 

“Shh, it’s okay.” She leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead before standing up and returning to the water pump to refill her glass.

 

Halfway back to the bed she froze. She stared at the glass. She touched her lips. She stared at Laxus. 

 

She smiled.

 

She knew what to do.

 

##########

 

The taste of water on Mirajane’s fingers was better than whiskey. Better than wine. Better than anything Laxus had ever tasted in his entire godforsaken life. 

 

But it paled in comparison to when she kissed him.

 

Soft, petal-pink lips touched his chapped ones. For a moment he was confused, then he felt Mira’s tongue poke softly at the seam of his lips. Clearly she wanted in his mouth, though he’d be damned if he could understand why. He probably tasted like shit, literally and figuratively. But this was Mirajane, and she smelled like _heaven_ , and she was a woman…

 

(… _awomanwomanwoman, slickheat warm moist take claim matemate mate woman…_ )

 

He moaned and parted his lips.

 

A moment later, water flooded his mouth.

 

It was so unexpected he nearly choked. He sputtered and coughed as she pulled away, her delicate fingers touching his lips again.

 

“Swallow, Laxus,” Mira soothed, moving her hand down to rub his chest. “There’s more here. Swallow first and I’ll give you more.”

 

Laxus managed to swallow the water that had remained in his mouth and hadn’t sizzled away, though his chest still ached from his coughing fit. He watched as Mira’s glowing silhouette raised the water glass to her lips and took a deep drink; the soft curve of her cheek bowed outward as she filled her mouth. Then she was bending over him again, her mouth on his, and he parted his lips and _water_ filled his mouth, soothing the dry burn of too much screaming without relief. His throat worked as he fought to swallow, and his tongue licked into her mouth, eager for more.

 

Mirajane was beaming as she sat up the second time; Laxus could see the brilliant glow of her teeth against the blinding white of her outline. “I told you, you’re going to be okay,” she repeated, more for herself, he thought, than for him, but he didn’t care. He’d take anything she had to offer. “We’ll finish this glass, okay? Then we’ll wait a little while for some more. I don’t want to make you sick.”

 

“Mira…” he managed to whisper, his throat still tortured by glass dust and acidic bile. “Thank you…”

 

“Shhh…” Her cool fingers ghosted over his brow, and Laxus let his dry, swollen eyes close as he leaned towards her touch. “You aren’t alone now, Laxus. I’m going to take care of you.”

 

##########

 

The relief in Laxus’s bearing was palpable as Mirajane slowly shared the water with him. It must have been terrible, lying here alone, no possibility of comfort. She refused to cry as she thought about how terrifying it must have been for him, or how devastating it must have been for Makarov to see his grandson in such a pitiful state and not be able to _do_ anything.

 

_But Master did do something, Mirajane. He brought you to Laxus. And you’re going to save him._

 

On the last mouthful of water she let her tongue slide into the dragonslayer’s mouth, gliding over his own tongue, stroking his palate. He needed to brush his teeth, and probably gargle with a gallon of mouthwash, but she wanted to taste him. Laxus moaned softly, and she heard rather than saw his hands twisting in their leather cuffs as he struggled to touch her. 

 

“Mm…” Mira sat up slowly and gazed down at him, her hand braced in the center of his chest. “I don’t think you need those anymore, do you?” She reached up to brush her fingers over the cuff that held his right wrist. “I’ll take them off.”

 

The wounds that circled his wrists had crusted with dried blood that peeled away with a sickening sound as Mira loosed the buckles and released him. Fresh blood sprang to the surface, mixing with its dried brown cousin to form a gruesome slurry. His ankles were less abused but the flesh was still angry and red. 

 

As soon as he was free, Laxus rolled onto his knees and reached for her, his bloodied fingers sinking into her white blond hair and staining it red. Mira was expecting the kiss, though the sheer force of it took her a bit by surprise. For a starving man who’d been teetering on the brink of dehydration not ten minutes before, he was a very, _very_ thorough kisser. 

 

“Laxus,” she moaned against his mouth, her hands on his shoulders, gently trying to push him away. “Mmm… Laxus, stop. Just for now, stop. Laxus. LAXUS.”

 

Her sharp tone seemed to snap him out of whatever mating-induced haze he was in long enough for him to take the hint and sit back on his heels. But he didn’t lower his hands; they stayed tangled in her white silk hair.

 

Mirajane smiled and kissed the pad of his thumb as he brushed it over her lips. “I know what you want,” she said, careful to enunciate her words. “I know what you need. I’m going to help you. But first you need to let me take care of you, okay?”

 

“Want you,” Laxus rasped.

 

“I know you do.” Her hands smoothed down his chest, feeling the accumulation of a week’s worth of grime and sweat under her palms. “Let me clean you up, hmm? That will feel better, won’t it? To be clean again?” She realized she was talking to him like he was a child, but she wasn’t sure if he was quite coherent enough for anything else just yet. 

 

Laxus leaned toward her, his mouth latching onto the side of her neck. It felt… so incredibly _good_. Maybe it was the hum of his ambient electrical field, or the heat that poured off him like a furnace, or some ineffable pheromone that seeped from his pores and saturated the air around her, but Mira found it increasingly difficult to push him away; especially when his large, powerful hands pulled out of her hair and drifted down her back, bunching in her dress and pulling it apart at the seams like tissue paper.

 

“Oh gods,” Mira gasped, leaning instinctively towards him, resting her chin on his shoulder as his palms burned against her bare back.

 

“So smooth…” Laxus growled. She felt his fingers coast down her spine, then back up again to hook into the dress where it still clung to her shoulders. 

 

Mirajane steeled herself and firmly pushed him back, both hands planted on his shoulders to keep him at bay. “Not yet,” she said firmly, hoping the shakiness of her voice didn’t undercut her tone. “Patience.”

 

With what she considered superhuman strength, Mira slipped off the edge of the bed and stood up. Laxus watched her with his strange, unblinking eyes. He didn’t move to follow her, but every muscle was strung tight as a bowstring, ready to pounce.

 

“Stay there,” she said, vividly aware of her dress hanging open and in tatters over her back, leaving her skin tantalizingly bare from the nape of her neck to the swell of her buttocks. “Wait just a little longer, Laxus. I’m going to take care of you.”

 

He was growling; a faint, unceasing rumble that she would have mistaken for distant thunder if not for the beautiful weather. It didn’t scare her, though she could feel goosebumps pebbling her skin. The sound sank into her ears, igniting something hungry and primal in the pit of her stomach. She felt her own magic sparking, drawn to the surface by the mood of the cabin, pulsing in her bloodstream. She realized with surprise that there hadn’t been any further explosions of electrical tentacles since she’d first come to sit beside him on the bed. 

 

Perhaps his magic had found what it had been searching for.

 

#########

 

Laxus closed his dry, sore eyes as he waited for Mira to return, letting his nose tell him where she was. Now that he had her scent he could have found her if they were separated by half a world and a dozen oceans. She was imprinted on his senses.

 

A few minutes later he felt the mattress dip as she sat beside him. "I'm going to wash you, Laxus," she soothed, and he heard the cool, clear sound of water being squeezed from a cloth into a bowl. "Tell me if you need me to stop."

 

The rough, damp texture of the cloth stroking delicately over his face made him groan, and he forced his eyes open to watch her blinding figure as she tended to him. Her slender arms and large, blue eyes soothed him.

 

"Are you all right?" Mira asked after a minute under his quiet scrutiny. She re-dipped the cloth and began to clean his beard. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"

 

Laxus shook his head and could see her face brighten through the nimbus of white light that surrounded her in his vision. "Good," she said, paying close attention to the area around his mouth. 

 

Eventually his face was clean enough for her liking and she began to work downward, stroking the cloth over his shoulders, his chest, his arms. She squeezed the water over his limbs so it ran in cold rivulets over his burning skin, crackling beneath his lightning cocoon. Her hands were so delicate, it was driving him out of his mind. The dragon in his head told him to take her; to throw her down and have her until every craving was sated. But then she'd graze her fingers over the flutter of his pulse at the base of his throat, and he knew he couldn't do that. Not to Mirajane. His Mirajane.

 

"Almost done," she soothed after several long minutes. "I want to take care of these, okay?" Her hands touched his wrist, still raw and bloody, and Laxus hissed in pain. "I'm sorry," she apologized, but didn't let him go. "I'll be as careful as I can."

 

A red curtain fell across Laxus's eyes as she began to cleanse the wounds around his right wrist. The smell of blood, the bite of pain, the overwhelming scent of woman and strawberries... 

 

His free arm moved of its own accord, twining around Mira's waist and pulling her against his chest. His lightning cocoon enveloped her, wrapping around the pair of them as he dropped his head to the crook of her neck and sank his teeth into the milksoft flesh of her shoulder.

 

"LAXUS!" Mira gasped, stiffening in his hold. 

 

She didn't sound afraid, thank Mavis. Laxus didn't know what he'd have done if he scared her, because he couldn't stop now if he tried. 

 

Mira tasted like she smelled - strawberries and cream and heavenly woman - and his teeth kept tightening, tearing easily through her petal-soft skin until his mouth flooded with the taste of rich red blood. 

 

"Laxus," Mira whimpered, and he realized that she'd dropped the washcloth and was clinging to him like she was afraid she'd fly away if she let go.

 

Lightning surged through his veins and crackled down his teeth, sending sharp shocks into Mira's flesh and making her yelp with a mix of pain and pleasure. Laxus dragged his tongue over the bloodied bite mark, trying to soothe the pain as best he could, but wanting even more to bite her HARDER, to go DEEPER, to send his magic seething into her like a river in high flood.

 

"L..Laxus..." Mira whimpered. "What..."

 

His jaws loosened, making Mirajane gasp, and he pulled back far enough to stare at the red, savage mark he'd left on her shoulder. "You're mine," he growled. 

 

#######

 

Mirajane's shoulder throbbed. She knew if she tilted her head a little to look at where Laxus had bitten her, she'd see a brutal, bloody wound. 

 

She forced her eyes open, her hands clutching at the dragonslayer's biceps as she tried to keep her balance. Laxus was staring at her, the whites of his eyes bloodied and yellowed. There was blood on his lips. It made him look like a wild animal.

 

_No. Like a dragon._

 

"Laxus," Mira whispered shakily, raising a hand to touch his bearded cheek. 

 

He tossed his head, batting her hand away, and lunged. Mira squeaked in surprise as he barreled her back down to the bed, his mouth sealed over hers, hungry and searching. One of his broad hands grabbed hold of her torn gown and yanked it off her shoulders, baring her breasts. Mira yelped, which gave him the opportunity to thrust his tongue into her mouth, running eagerly over her teeth. She pushed faintly at his shoulders, her instinctual panic warring with the surge of arousal that pulsed through her as Laxus palmed her breast in a rough, calloused hand. 

 

With a gasp Mira managed to wrench her mouth away from Laxus's. "Laxus! Stop! Stop this right now!" She heaved her body beneath his - once, twice -- and succeeded in bucking him off enough that she could scramble off the bed. Her shredded dress tumbled down around her hips and fell in a tattered puddle on the floor around her feet. 

 

Mira ignored her virtual nakedness as she stared down the snarling man crouched on the bed. Laxus looked ready to pounce, every muscle tense. His ruined eyes were fixed on her, unblinking. The electricity that crackled around his body expanded, snapping angrily.

 

 _So this is a dragon in heat._

 

Mira didn't dare look away from him, knowing instinctively he'd take the opportunity to launch himself at her again. He hadn't eaten in days, had barely had anything to drink, but she knew she was no match for him if this came down to a fight. This wasn't just Laxus she was facing anymore - this was raw instinct and insatiable need. It was every primal drive filtered down to a knife's point and aimed directly at her.

 

Okay. Well. This wasn't ideal, but the second she'd stepped through the cabin door this was what she'd signed up to do. 

 

Steeling herself, Mira straightened her spine, drew back her hand, and punched him as hard as she could across the face.

 

"You asshole!" she barked. "Look at what you've done!" She gestured to her ruined clothes, the bloody bite mark on her shoulder. "You think you just get to take what you want? Nuh-uh, no way, buster. You want me? You have to EARN me." She cracked her knuckles and rolled her neck before planting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. 

 

"Now are you going to behave?" she asked, her honey-sweet voice dripping with venom. "Or am I going to have to teach you some manners?"

 

########

 

Laxus gaped at her, one hand on his cheek where she'd punched him, the other planted flat on the bed. The white nimbus that flared around Mira's body was crackling at the edges now, snapping like a flag in a hurricane. 

 

"Mira...?" he rasped.

 

"Ah, there's my boy," the takeover mage purred. "Very good. You know, girls don't appreciate being manhandled like raw meat, Laxus. We deserve better than that, don't we?" She snapped her fingers. "Come here."

 

Without thinking, Laxus pulled himself to the edge of the bed and knelt in front of her.

 

"Good boy," Mira praised, resting a gentle hand on his head and combing her fingers through his hair. "See? We can be nice and mannerly, can't we?"

 

The scent of her filled his nose, and he tilted his head to nip at her wrist, eager to taste the blood that pumped through the veins that hid just beneath the surface. 

 

"No!" The hand in his hair tightened, and Laxus hissed with pain as she yanked his head back to the front. "Did I not make myself clear, Laxus? If you want to taste me, you have to behave."

 

"You smell so good," he managed to mumble, letting his eyes close as the hand she had in his hair loosened. "I want to eat you, Mira."

 

She laughed softly, her fingers tenderly massaging his scalp now. "A hungry dragon, hmm? I think we can help with that. Then we'll talk about the rest."

 

Her hand slipped from his hair. Having the comfort of her touch taken away so suddenly was agony, and Laxus shuddered, his skin breaking out in gooseflesh. 

 

A warm blanket of strawberries enveloped him as Mira leaned forward to kiss the top of his head. "I'll be right back," she soothed. "I promise."

 

##########

 

Mirajane's heart was pounding so hard in her chest she was surprised Laxus couldn't hear it. _Oh Mavis... what the hell am I doing?_

 

One thing she was NOT doing was panicking. No sir. The time for panic was in the past. She was starting to understand how this worked now. Yes, Laxus was going through a dragon's mating cycle, but that didn't mean she had to be a poor, weak damsel and give herself over to his rapacious delights. Dragons were big, armored creatures of unspeakable violence. It didn't make sense to her that a dragon would take a mate that didn't at least TRY to fight back. And frankly, if _she_ was a dragon, flying around and minding her own business, and some other dragon flew along and tried to stick his reptilian dick in her without so much as a by your leave, well, Dragon!Mira wouldn't just TAKE it. Dragon mating, she was sure, was a bloody business. Luckily for her she was an S-Class mage in her own right, which meant she could stand toe to toe with Laxus most days.

 

Of course, most days Laxus wasn't being driven by a sexual mating imperative that threatened to literally kill him. He wasn't exactly in his right mind at the moment. That's why Mira knew she couldn't afford to let this turn into a genuine fight. She stood a chance against a sane, healthy Laxus, but she didn't want to push her luck against a broken, deteriorated Laxus driven half mad by lust. 

 

Right now she was arranging a few finger foods on a platter and trying desperately to decide what to do next. She'd promised she'd hurry back to him, and from the sounds he was making on the bed behind her she could tell he was suffering from the distance she'd put between them. It was flattering and terrifying at the same time. Mira had never imagined being desired so much it caused the other person physical pain, but her shoulder was still throbbing from Laxus's vicious branding. Men and animals in pain would do terrible things to protect themselves. She just hoped she could keep the dragonslayer sane long enough to purge the heat from his system before he did something they'd both regret.

 

Lifting the platter, she turned and padded back to the bed, keenly aware of her own nakedness. With the exception of her pink polka-dot panties, she was naked as a jaybird. It didn't help any when she reminded herself that she was dressed demure as a nun compared to Laxus's total nudity. Mavis, how was she going to get them through this?

 

Laxus was curled in a ball in the center of the bed when Mira returned, his hands buried in his hair, every muscle in his arms and legs corded like iron cables. A sound like twisting metal was coming from deep inside his chest as he moaned.

 

"Laxus!" she yelped, setting the tray on the side table and quickly joining him on the bed. "Oh Mavis, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm here now. Shhh... I left you too long, didn't I? I'm so sorry, Laxus. I'm so sorry."

 

Mira wrapped her arms around him, pressing his head against her breasts, her other arm looped around his broad shoulders. His electrical cocoon expanded to envelope her again, warm and protective, and Laxus surged closer to her, desperately seeking the comfort of smooth skin. His arms wound around her waist painfully tight as he pulled her into his lap, and Mira cursed as she felt the tremors that were making his muscles seize uncontrollably. 

 

"Shhh," she soothed, stroking her hands up and down his back. She dared a kiss to his shoulder. "Shhh, it's all right. I'm right here. I'm right here."

 

After a few long minutes, Laxus's body began to relax. Or rather, most of him began to relax. Certain, very _intimate_ parts of his anatomy were less than inclined to follow the trend. Since the rest of him seemed too exhausted to act on his impulses, Mira took the opportunity to investigate just what exactly she was getting herself into. Shifting ever so slightly in his lap, she leaned closer until she felt his erection press fully against her bare belly.

 

Oh gods, he was _huge_.

 

Not just huge in a "Gee, I can't wait to tell Cana!" kind of way. Not huge in a "Sorcerer's Weekly would have a FIELD DAY!" kind of way. No, huge in a, "There is no earthly way that thing is going to fit where it's supposed to go when it's time for it to go there, oh gods, I'm going to DIE, this is going to KILL ME, what am I going to DO?!" kind of way. 

 

Laxus wasn't a virgin, right? Mira scoffed at hersef immediately. No, he was _not_ a virgin, and she was pretty sure she'd have noticed if the papers had reported any women who'd died as a result of being fucked by an impossibly huge cock. That was some comfort at least, though not much. Laxus didn't make it habit of vivisecting women with his dick. Go team. 

 

Oh gods, what if this was some dragon mating thing? What if his penis was usually normal sized but something about this whole mating cycle had made him, like, triple normal size, and oh gods, this was going to KILL HER, she was going to DIE...

 

Warm lips on her neck snapped her out of her reverie. "You smell like fear," Laxus murmured against the hinge of her jaw as his hands kneaded her back. 

 

Mira shivered. "I... I'm not afraid," she lied, clinging to him even more tightly to still the sudden trembling in her limbs. "Just worried. About you. You... you must be hungry, hmm? I got you some food. Do you want to eat?"

 

"Can't." His mouth was moving back down her neck, dropping slow, sultry kisses along the way. 

 

"You can if I feed you," she murmured, closing her eyes and letting the warmth of his lips ease her anxiety. "Like the water, remember? Here, let me..."

 

A deep, shuddering growl of warning rumbled between them as she released him to stretch an arm towards the nightstand. Mirajane's blood ran cold for a moment, but she quickly recovered and smacked his shoulder, hard, with her other hand. "What did I say about behaving?" she snapped. That seemed to mollify him, though she thought he was more distracted by the way her stretched position was moving her breasts against his chest than he was actually afraid. 

 

Her fingers closed around a small handful of grapes. "Here," she explained, cradling the grapes between them and bringing one to his mouth. The electrical sheath crackled around them, leaving the way clear for her to ease the sweet fruit past his lips. 

 

Laxus moaned.

 

"Good right?" Mira grinned. "Want another one?" He nodded. "Okay. Here you go..."

 

She was enjoying this. Strange and scary as the whole thing was, she was genuinely enjoying herself. It was no secret she liked taking care of people, her brother and sister foremost among them. Laxus, though, had always been a loaner. Even in their youth, before her mothering instincts had kicked into overdrive, she'd found him standoffish and independent. If there was anyone she'd never imagined eating from her hand like a baby bird, it was Laxus Dreyar. Yet here they were.

 

"I have some bread, too," she murmured, watching as he ate each grape she fed him, chewing slowly and swallowing before opening his mouth for the next. "With honey. Would you like some?"

 

"Anything," he agreed. "Anything, Mira."

 

Mira smiled and kissed his nose. "Good dragon." 

 

She'd drizzled the honey over the (slightly stale) bread in an effort to soften it up a bit, and she was pleased to see it had worked. Laxus bit into the slice with abandon, moaning again as the warm sweetness of the honey spread over his tongue. Mira nibbled the corner closest to her mouth and had to agree, it was actually quite good. To someone who hadn't eaten in days it was probably ambrosia. 

 

"Take it easy," she chided softly as he wolfed down the rest of the honey-soaked bread. "Not too fast or you'll choke." 

 

Laxus grunted in acknowledgement as he swallowed the last mouthful, then lunged for her fingers, sucking them into his mouth as his tongue licked away the honey that lingered on her fingertips.

 

"Oh!" Mira squeaked, eyes wide. It was hypnotic, the warm heat around her fingers mixed with the image of his cheeks fluttering as he sucked them clean. She was aware of a sudden jolt of almost painful arousal in the pit of her stomach, and from the way Laxus's nostrils flared, so was he.

 

He pulled away from her fingers with a _pop!_ "You want me," he purred, and he sounded so much like his usual, cocky self she wanted to cry.

 

"I'm not done feeding you yet," she protested weakly, vividly aware of his hands stilling on her back before sliding down to cup her bottom. 

 

"I don't want food." 

 

Her heart was hammering against her ribcage as she felt his fingers in the waist of her panties. "Laxus..."

 

"You want me, Mira," he repeated, his voice a dark whisper. "I can smell it."

 

"I... I don't... maybe..."

 

"Don't stop me this time, Mira. Please." 

 

That made her blink in surprise. His voice was raw, wasted. She could feel the tension in his muscles as he held himself in check, though it was clearly a losing battle.

 

"You have... no idea," Laxus rasped, his fingers twisting in her spider-silk hair above her tailbone. "No idea how much I want to... _TAKE_ you, Mira. Everything inside me wants to pin you down and _DEVOUR_ you." 

 

He shuddered and pressed his forehead against her wounded shoulder. "Please, Mira," he whispered, and it was Laxus - HER Laxus - speaking. "Please let me have you. I'm so goddamn tired, and this hurts like hell."

 

Maybe it was the tone of his voice, or the lingering sensation of his mouth around her fingers, or the smell that clung to his skin that was so unmistakably LAXUS. Mira didn't know what it was, but in those shivering seconds of silence that hung between them SOMETHING made her press her lips to the dragonslayer's ear and whisper, "Okay."

 

##########

 

Those two syllables tore Laxus apart.

 

Fire roared through his veins as he drew back from Mirajane's sheltering shoulder and stared deep into her sapphire blue eyes with his wounded, bloody ones. She was terrified and aroused and desperate; the scents hung around her gleaming white figure like a multi-hued fog. Black terror and pink arousal were vying for dominance, and he couldn't have that.

 

"Mine." His hand dragged down her thigh to hitch her knee higher under his arm. "You're mine." 

 

Mira nodded shakily. "Y-yes, Laxus. I'm yours." Her soft white hand rested on his cheek, a delicate fingertip tracing the lightning bolt scar over his right eye. "Your mate."

 

_Mate..._

 

"Mirajane...," Laxus snarled, and rolled sideways until she was pinned beneath him, his mouth sealed across hers, his hands pressing her wrists into the mattress as his knees forced her thighs apart. Every inch of her was an erotic fantasy beneath him, soft and pliable and pure as driven snow. But he could smell her magic, the demon beneath the skin, ferocious and untamed. Just like him. 

 

He tore his mouth away from hers and threw back his head to howl as electricity surged through his veins, glowing through his flesh like a pulsing roadmap of lightning. Current unfurled from his back in great, crackling wings that stretched across the width of the cabin, either wingtip touching a wall. His unseeing eyes flared yellow. The gritty glass dust that was a constant painful mist across his eyes melted down his cheeks like tears. 

 

When he lowered his head again, he could see clearly: every curve and luscious swell of delicate white flesh; the rough weave of the rumpled bedsheets; the sheen of fear in Mirajane's ocean heart eyes. A bolt of lightning reduced her panties to ash, and now he could smell her unobstructed. 

 

"Laxus," she whispered.

 

"Mate," he growled, lightning dripping from his lips like water. It fell on her breasts and spread like ripples in a pool. "Breed with me."

 

########

 

He was terrifying. 

 

Lightning writhed beneath Laxus's skin like a living thing. His eyes glowed acid yellow, and the enormous electric wings flapped once, sending a great gust of wind through the cabin that pulverized whatever remaining furniture hadn't already been destroyed over the course of the past two weeks. 

 

Except the bed.

 

"My mate," he growled, though it was more of a purr. One veiny hand released her wrist so he could drag his fingers down her cheek with surprising tenderness. "I'm going to fill you until you think you can't take anymore, then I'll fill you more. By the time we're done, you'll be begging me to breed you again and again. You'll taste my seed when you breathe."

 

Laxus's hand continued down her throat, brushing lightly over the throbbing bite mark on her shoulder before curling around her breast. He didn't squeeze, simply held her in his palm, his glowing yellow eyes fixed on her blue ones. 

 

"Are you ready?" he rumbled.

 

She wasn't. She wasn't at all. It was too much; HE was too much. Mira needed air, and space, and about twenty more years to come to grips with what was happening here. "I... I can't..." she whimpered, hating how frightened she sounded; hated it all the more because it was true.

 

Laxus leaned down, the electric wings curving around either side of the bed like a canopy. When he was nose to nose with her, his lips brushed over hers in the softest, most delicate kiss she'd ever felt.

 

"Mira," he whispered, and it was LAXUS again; not the terrifying lightning dragon who towered over her like an indomitable god. "It's my turn. I'm going to take care of _you_ now, Mira."

 

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she gave him a shaky, hopeful smile. "Laxus?"

 

"Hold on," he whispered against her lips. 

 

She nodded sharply and twined her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

 

"Thank you," he murmured, then thrust home.

 

It was like being spread open by a freight train. Mira tossed back her head and screamed as Laxus sank into her in one powerful thrust, from tip to root. The pain was quick and sharp, but surprisingly not excruciating, and it didn't linger. All she felt was a sense of incredible fullness, the feeling of being stretched to utmost capacity. And beyond that feeling, on the edges and growing stronger, was pure, unyielding _pleasure_.

 

"Oh... gods...," Mira choked, her fingers scrabbling at Laxus's shoulders. "L...Laxus...! It feels...!"

 

"Mmmm..." The dragonslayer's mouth brushed over her throat. "Pheromones. You're my mate. A good dragon would never hurt his mate." He dragged his tongue over the bite mark on her shoulder, sending another jolt of pleasure through Mira's overtaxed system. "It will feel so good, Mira. You feel so good." 

 

He started to move, and all Mira could do was hang on for the ride. Laxus dragged first one then the other of her legs up over his shoulders, changing their angle as he started to pump into her with abandon. White static bloomed across Mira's vision. 

 

Oh gods, she wasn't going to last. Already she could feel the pressure in her belly starting to bloom. This was nothing like when she'd touch herself; nothing like the few hurried tumbles she'd shared with myriad boyfriends over the years. Every thrust bottomed out at her womb, sending lances of pain-laced pleasure through her loins. 

 

"L...LAXUS!" she wailed, squeezing his head between her knees as her orgasm crashed over her like a tidal wave. "Oh gods...!"

 

"Yessss," he growled, burying one hand in her gossamer hair to drag her mouth to his for a passionate kiss that ended all too soon for Mira's taste. "More."

 

Before she could react he'd reared back and spun her around on his cock so she was on all fours on the bed, her face planted in the mattress and her ass in the air. His broad hands gripped her hips as he kept pounding into her.

 

Already Mira could feel a second orgasm on its way. She clenched her fists in the bedclothes and screamed as she shattered again. 

 

This time Laxus's rhythm stuttered, and he bellowed an animalistic cry as he came. The ripples of her orgasm milked his cock, forcing his seed deep into her womb. 

 

"So... so hot," she gasped, shuddering. "Gods, so much..." Her hand flailed back to find his thigh, squeezing with numb fingers. 

 

Laxus draped himself over her back, dropping lazy, wet kisses across her shoulders. "Mmm," he hummed, nipping at her ear. Then he laughed.

 

"What's so funny?" she asked, breathless.

 

"Mmm... You think we're done," he purred. "That's hilarious."

 

And he started to move again.

 

###############

 

He came six times. Laxus was pretty sure that was some kind of dragonslayer record. By the time he finally rolled away from Mira, gasping and utterly spent, the lightning wings had disappeared and his eyes had dimmed to their usual golden brown. 

 

Mira whimpered. "Laxus...?" 

 

His eyes shot open and he turned onto his side again, curling an arm around the slender takeover mage's sweat-slicked form. "Mira... Are you okay?" 

 

She was curled on her side, her back to him, and he was worried for a moment that he'd scared her so badly she'd never be able to forgive him. Then her small hand curled around his forearm, making him hug her tighter, and Laxus let himself relax just a little bit.

 

"Just... cold," she whispered, tilting her head to look over her shoulder and meet his eyes. A small smile curved her lips. "You made me really warm."

 

His own answering smile was brimming with relief. "Yeah, well... dragon." He kissed her shoulder and rubbed her belly. If he'd been anyone else he might feel a little embarrassed by just how distended her stomach was from the amount of ... well... _seed_ he'd pumped into her over the past hour. But because he was Laxus, the motherfucking Thunder God, he just felt proud. "You sure you're okay?"

 

Mira nodded faintly. "I am." Her smile widened. "I really am, Laxus."

 

He kissed her softly as she turned over in his arms, snuggling against his chest. "Good," he murmured. "I was afraid I might've... y'know... hurt you."

 

Mira giggled softly. "Hurt? No. But I think I know now why dragons mate for life."

 

He arched a curious eyebrow. "Eh? Why's that?"

 

She flung her arms around his neck and gave him a searing kiss that was over as quickly as it began. "Because I'm not sharing THAT with anyone else, mister," she told him firmly. "THAT is all mine."

 

Laxus laughed. It was hard to believe that just a few hours ago he'd been trussed up on this very same bed, praying to be dead by nightfall. 

 

His fingers curved around her cheek as he kissed her again. "So this isn't a one time thing, huh?"

 

"Of course not. What kind of girl do you think I am?" Mira's eyes twinkled. "I'm strictly a one dragon woman."

 

"Mmm, good. I don't feel like killing anyone today for touching you. I'm too damn comfortable." He tugged her under his chin, one arm wrapped comfortingly around the back of her neck as the other drifted downwards until his hand settled between her legs. "Mine."

 

Mira giggled. "Yours." She saucily wrapped her slender fingers around his flaccid - for now - penis and gave a little squeeze. "Mine?"

 

A contented purr rumbled in Laxus's chest. "Fuck yes, yours." He yawned and pressed his nose into her hair. "All yours."

 

And for the first time in days, he slept.

 

#############

 

It was a typical morning in the Fairy Tail guild hall. Juvia was trying to sit in Gray's lap while the Ice Make mage tried (without conviction) to prevent her from doing so. Erza was haranguing Warner for eating the last cinnamon bun. Bisca and Alzack were helping Asuka put together a puzzle, cheering every time she found the right place for a particular piece. The remaining trio of the Thunder Legion were relaxing at their usual table, but had been joined by Elfman, who was not-so-subtly very much ignoring Evergreen, who was not-so-subtly very much ignoring him right back. Lisanna was hanging over Bickslow's shoulder, playing with the seith mage's totems as they spun around her head, laughing. At the bar, Cana was already on her second barrel, and Kinana was cheerfully polishing glasses behind the counter as she waited for Mira to arrive.

 

The dragonslayers were still working their way through the mating season crunch. Natsu was laying across Lucy's lap in one of the booth seats while Lucy summed up their total pay from the most recent job they'd completed. He hummed in agreement here and there, idly tracing the guild mark on the back of her hand. Gajeel had Levy perched on his knee and was watching her face as she read aloud from an article she thought he'd enjoy in _Sorcerer's Weekly._ Wendy had evolved from merely watching Mest to actually talking to him, and she was hanging on his every word as he filled her in on the intrigue that he'd encountered during his seven year separation from the guild after Tenrou island. The older mage was clearly a bit uncomfortable with the young dragonslayer's attention, but not so uncomfortable as to turn her away.

 

Then, very suddenly, the three dragonslayers sat up in unison and turned their attention _en masse_ to the guild hall door. A moment later the door boomed open as Laxus kicked it wide and stepped through, a dozing Mirajane cradled in his arms. She was dressed in a fresh gown from home - the pink one with the full skirt and bows on the hips that he liked so much - but her feet were bare. Laxus himself hadn't bothered with more than his trousers and fur coat, so Mira's breath brushed across his bare collarbone as he carried her to the bar.

 

"Laxus!" Lisanna and Evergreen yelped in unison.

 

"What happened!" Freed added in shock. "Are you all right?"

 

"Big sis!" Elfman exclaimed, leaping up from his seat and running towards the pair. "What happened?"

 

Before the burly takeover mage could reach them, Laxus turned his gaze in the other man's direction with a look of such concentrated intensity that it brought Elfman to a dead stop. That threat taken care of, Laxus slowly lowered the drowsy Mira to her feet, still sheltered in the fringes of his coat. 

 

"Mmm, we're here already?" Mira yawned, rubbing her eyes and looking around the hall. "You should've woken me up, Laxus."

 

He smiled fondly and stroked a thumb over her lips. "You needed to sleep."

 

She giggled. "And whose fault is that?"

 

Laxus didn't respond. Instead, his eyes darted around the hall until he found Natsu. The other dragonslayer was staring at him with burning eyes. A quick glance verified that Gajeel and Wendy wore similar expressions. They could clearly smell the difference in the air around Laxus now. 

 

Turning his attention back to Natsu, Laxus made a point of catching Mira's chin and tilting her face up so he could press a fervent kiss to her lips, even as he kept eye contact with the pink-haired dragonslayer. It was a very clear and concise message: _MINE._

 

Natsu nodded, unblinking. In the corner of his vision, Laxus saw Gajeel and Wendy do the same. Good. As the first mated dragonslayer of the bunch, it didn't hurt to lay some ground rules right off the bat. Now the others knew where he stood, and more importantly, they knew that Mira was his mate. If anyone threatened her, they'd have not just Laxus, but Fairy Tail's full contingent of dragons to contend with. She couldnt be safer.

 

"Mira, what the hell?" Cana's voice broke the spell and Laxus pulled away from Mira's lips so the pair of them could look in the stunned woman's direction. "Are you high?"

 

Mirajane trilled with laughter. "No, silly. Laxus and I are just... different now." Turning her attention back to Laxus, she pecked him on his bearded cheek. "I'll see you tonight, ne?"

 

Laxus nodded. "Tonight." Then, hard as it was to do, like removing a piece of his own flesh, he stepped back so she could emerge from the confines of his coat. 

 

Suddenly he felt another pair of eyes on him and looked up to find Makarov balancing on the second floor balcony, his face unreadable. After a moment, Laxus nodded to him. After a moment more, Makarov smiled and nodded back.

 

Laxus turned his attention back to Mira, who was gazing up at him with an expectant expression. "What?"

 

"Can I tell the others?" she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

 

He rolled his eyes but couldn't keep a fond smile off his lips. "Sure. Whatever."

 

Mira beamed and stood on tiptoes to kiss him one more time. "Go get some more sleep," she murmured, combing her fingers through his shaggy golden hair. "You've earned it."

 

"Damn right I have." He ducked his head to pass his tongue over the bite mark that peeked out from under Mira's gown, then stepped back and spun away before his instincts took over and he flung her down on a table to continue the previous night's festivities.

 

With one last look at the dragonslayers, he bobbed his head, then marched back out through the guild hall's doors into the early morning sun.

 

##############

 

Cana's mouth hung open in sheer disbelief. Mira hummed as she continued polishing glasses, pleased that she'd managed to shock her otherwise unshockable friend. 

 

"So... wait, you and Laxus had _sex_."

 

Mira nodded. "Mm-hmm."

 

"A lot."

 

"Oh yes."

 

"And now you're his... mate?"

 

Mira beamed. "For life."

 

Cana's mouth worked as she tried to find words. She looked a bit like a fish. "So you're, like, married?"

 

Mira tilted her head and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I mean.. not in any legal sense," she mused. "At least, not by regular human standards. But by dragon standards? Yes, I guess so."

 

Cana sat back, her drink momentarily forgotten. "Holy shit, Mirajane. You're married. To LAXUS."

 

The takeover mage giggled. "He's really very sweet when he's not trying to impress people."

 

"You had sex with LAXUS!"

 

"I didn't want him to die."

 

"I can't handle this, Mira. This is too much. I'm either not drunk enough or _too_ drunk to handle this. Sober me up or pass me the whiskey, I honestly don't care which at this point."

 

The eldest Strauss sighed, but laughed as she handed Cana a full bottle of firewhiskey. "It's very straightforward, Cana. Laxus needed to have sex or he was going to die. So I had sex with him. Unbelievably passionate, violent, glorious sex. I lost track of the orgasms, and when we were done, he was all better." She did a little pirouette and curtseyed. 

 

"And now you're stuck with him."

 

Mira frowned at her friend. "I'm not _stuck_ with Laxus." Her cheeks warmed. "We're... good. Together. I think we're going to have fun."

 

Cana snorted. "Oh Mavis, you've got it bad. What do the other Strausses think? Not to mention Laxus's groupie troupe."

 

"Lisanna thinks it's sweet. She and Bickslow are already figuring out names for our inevitable babies." She giggled. "Elfman is... a little traumatized, but Evergreen is taking care of him, so that's all right. And Freed keeps muttering about how he needs his own Strauss. So I think they're all going to be okay."

 

"You think you're gonna? Have babies, I mean."

 

Mira felt her smile go from sweet to wicked. "Oh, I think it's a given."

 

"Really?"

 

"Mm-hmm."

 

Cana arched an eyebrow. "Care to share why?"

 

Mira leaned forward, beckoning her friend closer so she could whisper in her ear.

 

"HOW BIG!?"

 

Mira grinned and sketched a little picture on the bar's countertop to demonstrate. "Honest, Cana, my belly was out to HERE. Real dragons lay eggs, right? So I guess they've got to do a lot of fertilizing." 

 

"Holy SHIT, I need me a dragon."

 

Mira beamed and passed a cloth over the counter, erasing any evidence of the dirty picture she'd scribbled in the condensation left behind by Cana's beer mug. "Good luck finding one. I'm pretty sure they're all taken." Her eyes went a little distant as she pictured her own dragonslayer passed out cold in his bed back home. "And I got mine first."

 

Cana's face softened. "You're really kind of in love with him, aren't you?"

 

"More than kind of," the takeover mage murmured shyly. 

 

"And he loves you, too?"

 

Mira's hand went to the raw, red 'love bite' barely hidden by the sleeve of her dress. Laxus had spent a great deal of time tending to that mark with his tongue in the afterglow of their lovemaking. _'I'm sorry I hurt you,'_ he'd said. _'But dragons don't really think about love and shit when they're trying to mate. It's all about power.'_

 

 _'But you do?'_ she'd murmured.

 

 _'Well yeah. I'm not a dragon. I'm just a guy who's got this thing inside him telling him to act like one.'_ Then he'd wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair and murmured, _'I've been falling in love with you since I was old enough to get a boner, you gorgeous idiot. You think I'm going to fill just anyone up with all my little Laxus babies? I'm not a goddamn whore, Mira. That shit's precious. I only share it with the best.'_

 

Which was his very Laxus way of saying he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She'd known him long enough at this point in their lives that she could read between his lines. 

 

"Yeah," Mira said with a happy sigh, wrapping an arm around her middle and closing her eyes. "He really does."

 

"Well cheers." Cana raised her (half empty already) bottle of whiskey. "To the happy bride and her grumpy groom. May they have dozens of gorgeous babies who can kick ass with the best of them."

 

Hmm... Dozens?

 

Mira grinned and went back to polishing glasses. If this was how every mating season was going to go, that might not be out of the question. 

 

########

 

Laxus was still asleep when Mirajane crawled into bed beside him that evening. "Mmmm... Whos'at?"

 

The slender takeover mage giggled. "Mira, baka. You were expecting someone else?"

 

"Mmm..." He stretched like a bear as he rolled onto his back so she could nestle under his arm, her head on his chest. " I dunno. Freed's kinda co-dependent. "

Mira laughed. "Well I assure you, I'm not Freed." She kissed his collarbone. " I'm sorry I woke you. I was trying to be quiet."

 

"'Sokay. This is nicer than bein' asleep.". He pressed a sleepy kiss to her forehead. " you tell everyone? "

 

"Mm-hmm."

 

" how'd it go? "

 

"Everyone freaked out, but they're better now. Cana says congratulations on our wedding, by the way."

 

Laxus blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

 

" We're mated for life, Laxus. We're basically married. "

 

"Oh. Huh. Guess so."

 

" You're... Okay with that? 

 

Laxus glanced down to find her watching him with nervous eyes. His fingers combed tenderly through her spider Silk hair. "Yeah," he assured her. " I'm okay with that, Mira. "

 

Relief flooded her face. "Good," she breathed, cuddling closer. " i was worried. "

 

"Mira, I spent the last two weeks losing my mind and dying in a shithole cabin in the woods because I didn't have a mate. You literally saved my life. You think I'm such a dick I'm gonna drop your gorgeous, shapely, edible ass because of some stupid commitment issues? Fuck that. You're stuck with me. "

 

She giggled again. "Cana said the same thing. That I'm stuck with you." Her lips pressed over his heart. " i don't think it's a bad thing. "

 

"Damn right." Mira's leg snaked over his bare waist, and Laxus dropped a hand to tenderly stroke her thigh. "Babe, I would happily Fuck you to sleep, but it's all I can do to keep my eyes open. "

 

"It 's okay, Laxus. I'm just cuddling. Go back to sleep. " Her fingers scritched his bearded jaw. "Mountain man."

 

He nipped her fingers as he closed his eyes, tucking his nose into her sweet smelling hair. 

 

As he drifted off, Laxus heard her murmur, "Is it going to be like this every year during mating season?"

 

" Dunno. Maybe. "

 

"Natsu's going to burn the guild down when he turns 25, isn't he?"

 

" Nah. He's already got a mate. They've just gotta make it official. "

 

"Lucy?"

 

" Yep. "

 

Mira wiggled happily. "OTP!"

 

Laxus growled and rolled over to tuck her beneath him on the mattress. "Go to sleep, woman."

 

Mira yawned and nestled beneath him. "Sweet dreams, Laxus ," she murmured sleepily.

 

In his chest, the lightning Dragon scented his mate and growled affectionately. On the surface, Laxus laced his fingers through Mira's and mumbled, "Get your sleep, Mira. Mating season ain't over yet. "

 

Mira purred happily. "Yay."

 

**THE END**


End file.
